Dictionary
Thesaurus
Encyclopedia
Translator
Web
Related Searches
Synonyms
Nearby Words

bomb

 - 8 dictionary results

bomb

  [bom]
Use bomb in a Sentence
–noun
1. Military. a projectile, formerly usually spherical, filled with a bursting charge and exploded by means of a fuze, by impact, or otherwise, now generally designed to be dropped from an aircraft.
2. any similar missile or explosive device used as a weapon, to disperse crowds, etc.: a time bomb; a smoke bomb.
3. Also called volcanic bomb. Geology. a rough spherical or ellipsoidal mass of lava, ejected from a volcano and hardened while falling.
4. aerosol bomb.
5. Football. a long forward pass, esp. one to a teammate who scores a touchdown.
6. Slang.
a. an absolute failure; fiasco: The play was a bomb and closed after two performances.
b. Chiefly British. an overwhelming success: The novel is selling like a bomb.
7. Jazz. a sudden, unexpected accent or rhythmic figure played by a drummer during a performance.
8. a lead or lead-lined container for transporting and storing radioactive materials.
9. the bomb,
a. atomic bomb.
b. nuclear weapons collectively.
10. Computers. a spectacular program or system failure.
11. Slang. a powerful automobile or other vehicle.
–verb (used with object)
12. to hurl bombs at or drop bombs upon, as from an airplane; bombard: The enemy planes bombed the city.
13. to explode by means of a bomb or explosive.
14. Computers. to deliberately cause (a computer system) to fail with a program written for the purpose.
–verb (used without object)
15. to hurl or drop bombs.
16. to explode a bomb or bombs.
17. Slang. to be or make a complete failure, esp. to fail to please or gain an audience; flop (sometimes fol. by out): His last play bombed on Broadway. The business bombed out with a $25,000 debt.
18. (of a computer program or system) to fail spectacularly.
19. Informal. to move very quickly: They came bombing through here on their motorcycles at 2 a.m.
Origin:
1580–90; 1960–65 for def. 17; earlier bom(b)e < Sp bomba (de fuego) ball (of fire), akin to bombo drum < L bombus a booming sound < Gk bómbos

Related forms:
bombable, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To bomb
bomb   (bŏm)   
n.  

    1. An explosive weapon detonated by impact, proximity to an object, a timing mechanism, or other means.

    2. An atomic or nuclear bomb. Used with the.

    3. A container capable of withstanding high internal pressure.

    4. A vessel for storing compressed gas.

    5. A portable, manually operated container that ejects a spray, foam, or gas under pressure.

    6. A large amount of money.

    7. A great success.

  2. Any of various weapons detonated to release destructive material, such as smoke or gas.

  3. Football A long forward pass.

    1. A container capable of withstanding high internal pressure.

    2. A vessel for storing compressed gas.

    3. A portable, manually operated container that ejects a spray, foam, or gas under pressure.

    4. A large amount of money.

    5. A great success.

  5. Slang A dismal failure; a fiasco.

  6. Slang An old car.

  7. Slang One that is excellent or superior. Used with the.

  8. Chiefly British Slang

    1. A large amount of money.

    2. A great success.

v.   bombed, bomb·ing, bombs

v.   tr.
To attack, damage, or destroy with or as if with bombs.
v.   intr.

  1. To drop a bomb or bombs.

  2. Slang To fail miserably: The play bombed.

  3. Slang To paint a graffito.


[French bombe, from Italian bomba, probably from Latin bombus, a booming sound, from Greek bombos, of imitative origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
bomb

  1. n.
    a bad performance or an inherently bad show. : They tried as hard as they could, but the thing was a bomb from Act One on.
  2. in.
    to fail. : My first try bombed, but things got better.

  3. Go to bomb(shell). :
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
bomb (out)

  1. in.
    [for a computer or computer program] to fail. : The whole thing bombed out at just the wrong time.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
bomb(shell)

  1. n.
    a stunning piece of news that is dropped without warning. (See also bomb.) : I am still recovering from your bombshell of last evening.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

bomb  (n.)
1588, from Fr. bombe, from It. bomba, probably from L. bombus "a buzzing or booming sound," from Gk. bombos "deep and hollow sound," echoic. Originally of mortar shells, etc.; modern sense of "explosive device placed by hand or dropped from airplane" is 1909. Meaning "old car" is from 1953. Meaning "success" is from 1954 (though late 1990s slang in the bomb "the best" is probably a fresh formation); opposite sense of "a failure" is from 1963. The bomb "atomic bomb" is from 1945. Bombshell in the fig. sense of "shattering or devastating thing or event" is from 1860; in ref. to a pretty woman (esp. a blonde) it is attested from 1942. Bomber as a type of military aircraft is from 1917. Bombed "drunk" is from 1959.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
Computing Dictionary

bomb
1. General synonym for crash except that it is not used as a noun. Especially used of software or OS failures. "Don't run Empire with less than 32K stack, it'll bomb".
2. Atari ST and Macintosh equivalents of a Unix "panic" or Amiga guru, in which icons of little black-powder bombs or mushroom clouds are displayed, indicating that the system has died. On the Macintosh, this may be accompanied by a decimal (or occasionally hexadecimal) number indicating what went wrong, similar to the Amiga guru meditation number. MS-DOS computers tend to lock up in this situation.
3. A piece of code embedded in a program that remains dormant until it is triggered. Logic bombs are triggered by an event whereas time bombs are triggered either after a set amount of time has elapsed, or when a specific date is reached.
[The Jargon File]
(1996-12-08)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
Cite This Source
Idioms & Phrases

bomb

see time bomb.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see bomb on Thesaurus | Reference
FacebookTwitterFollow us:
Partner Sites:
Ask AnswersEviteExpediaHotelsHotwireLife123LiveDailyMy Way